Monday, June 30, 2008

Unplug Your Kids Group Project

Mom Unplugged has another Group Project going this Monday , as always.
Be sure to link over there if you join in
and check out all the participants while you enjoy your morning cuppa.
This week the theme is GARDEN !!!
Oh yes...we are so in.Princess and I love to garden. We have a family vegetable plot
in our backyard,
as well as at our local community garden at a nearby college,
we have flower beds, and a butterfly garden here at home as well.
We try to grow our own from seed as much a possible.
It has been one of the best "projects" we have ever undertaken as a family,
and I cannot tell people enough...GROW YOUR OWN FOOD!
Something, anything, it is so worth it. If you are really interested, you can check out
my garden blog here.
I think the recent food scares we have suffered as a nation only drive this point home further.
You can and should grow your own. You do not need a huge piece of property (we don't have one),
you do not need a location with full sun (we don't have one). You can grow something in pots, actually many
plants grow well in pots if you take the time to learn what it needs to survive (how much water,type of soil,etc).
Being in the garden together affords us so many opportunities for real learning, Princess is learning about all kinds
of insects (both beneficial and not) and other garden pests (just type in the word groundhog and you will see what I mean),she knows how to sow seeds and when and where to plant things, she can weed,water,harvest.

OK, for those of you with younger children, this may sound like a far off dream, but get them out there now anyway. Give them something to do (pick up all the rocks and put them in a bucket) show them a specific weed
to pull out and put in a bucket, and they will cause less damage. I am not going to lie to you..they will cause some.
But it gets better! Princess can now go out by herself and pick lettuce,green beans,asparagus and radishes etc
and bring them in for our meal. She can weed almost without supervision. This would not be the case today,if we did not include her when she was younger.You do not need a garden of your own to participate, so please do.

11 comments:

Cher Mere said...

Great pro gardening post!

I admit I am a bit intimidated in our garden. But I am giving it a try anyway. I figure it is a learning process.
I am excited to start eating our lettuce.

Wisteria said...

What is that between the squash and the tomatoes? Your garden is beautiful.

Gottfredsen said...

What a great post. I have been trying to grow vegetables in a pot. Not much luck yet. We will see though, No one in the family is ready to give up yet. The kids actually ask when are we going to move into our own house so we can have a real garden.

Mrs. Darling said...

Im with you on that gardening thing. Thers nothing better then watching a garden grow!

Rockin' Moroccan Mama said...

Zachary wants a vegetable garden. I have tried in pots but then again I can barely grow mint, which is dying in my pot. I will not give up especially all that I hear on the news about our food. I will try harder.

Sandra Lundy said...

You have a beautiful garden and I love this blog! I'm definitely coming back for a longer visit...so many great things here! Oh, and thanks for visiting me :)

Anonymous said...

Your enthusiasm is highly contagious! You are right about giving little ones simple jobs. That is good to remember because it is very easy to get caught in the "it's easier to do it myself" mindset. Thanks for the great reminder and congrats on such lovely gardens!

reprehriestless warillever said...

I am very bad about letting the kids help in the garden. They planted the potatoes with me, but I *do not* let them weed. Maybe I need to find a way to let one in at a time....

My mother is taking care of it for the next two weeks. I have no problem "letting go" in that way ;)

Mad Scientist Society said...

I am all for puttin' kids to "play" in the vegetable garden. They may surprise you. My son, I've found is just a natural born gardener. He's spent summers since he was crawling.. out in the garden with grandma and grandad and at 6, he does most of the "everyday" work in our veggie garden - weeding, watering, picking ripe veggies and eating LOL

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

Love your garden - I'm jealous! I'll have to check out your gardening blog!

Anonymous said...

You guys are so cool. :) I knew your garden post would be good. Your garden blog looks wonderful.

You might enjoy the book Living the Good Life: How One Family Changes Their World from Their Own Backyard. I skimmed a lot of it but really enjoyed it. It is about how they grew all their own food and didn't buy anything for six months. I think it would be worth a check from the library.

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My homeschool buddies and I are all posting pics of our "home schools" as part of our idea sharing.

Plato said...

Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child's natural bent .